Published: Sunday, February 24, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, February 22, 2013 at 7:24 p.m.

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Red Price has owned the 91-year-old business, on Seventh Avenue between Sixth Avenue and Locust Street, for a half-century, and he loves to share tales of what's gone on inside the shop and outside its windows through the years.

As memories begin to fade or disappear with each passing decade, Price is a treasured resource and an invaluable link between Seventh Avenue's past and its future.

"Red is full of stories," said Jo Ann Fain, historian for the Seventh Avenue Historic District. "I'm just glad he knows all these stories — and can remember them."

Fain's uncle, Charlie Lowrance, and his business partner, Jim Pace, opened Crystal Barber Shop in August 1922, according to Price's recollections of his conversations with Lowrance, who died in the 1990s. In the 91 years since, as Hendersonville has grown, modernized and seen its hub shift from Seventh Avenue to Main Street, the barber shop has stood the test of time and retained its roots — same name, same location, same service.

Price purchased half of the business in 1964, and has been its sole owner now for many years. When he started, Seventh Avenue remained the place to be.

"You'd see cars drive around the block trying to find a parking space," Price recalled. "It was still busy then. We had a drug store here and one down on the corner, so we had two drug stores, we had two shoe stores, we had two grocery stores."

Price, born and raised in Hendersonville, easily rattles off vivid descriptions of a bustling Seventh Avenue, with the busy train depot — and, to some degree, the barber shop — at the center of it all.

"Charlie said he could look out the front window there and he could see seven big boarding houses," Price said, adding that they charged $6 per week for room and board back then. "People would come down and meet the train and carry your bags to get you to come to their boarding house."

According to Price, families from Charleston, S.C., would send loved ones up here by train to escape disease-spreading mosquitoes in the summer. With radio broadcasts brand new in the 1920s, Price said, often those Lowcountry visitors were the only source of news for local residents — highly valued even if the news was six months old.

Consequently, if such a visitor needed a haircut, well, Crystal Barber Shop was where people congregated.

In later years it was a place frequented by Carl Sandburg, who enjoyed not just a haircut from Lowrance but also a bottle of Coke and a game of checkers next door at Chief's Friendly Market, according to a conversation Matthew Hickman, co-owner of Underground Baking Co. where Chief's once operated, said he had recently with Chief's daughter during a visit to his bakery.

Crystal Barber Shop also had checkerboards — painted on a long table in the back — Price recalled, and hot shots at the game would sit and play for hours. However, they might have had to play elsewhere had Pace and Lowrance accepted an offer to relocate the business in their early years.

"When the (Skyland) hotel was built, they wanted a barber shop in it, so they offered Jim and Charlie a year's free rent if they moved their shop up there," Price said. "But at that time they said, ‘I don't think we could make a living on Main Street,' because everything was down here, you know? Of course then over the years, everything changed."

One by one, businesses began disappearing once a highway and mall went up on Four Seasons Boulevard.

"They just figured Seventh Avenue was going to die, so they moved out," Price said. "But it's been good to me. I've been here 48 years and I've made a good living on Seventh Avenue."

Price himself had a chance to move into a new location, where the Department of Motor Vehicles now stands on Four Seasons, but the rent was too expensive. And besides, Price was at home on Seventh Avenue.

In 1979, Price's wife, Joan, who attended barber school just like her husband did, went to work in the shop and wound up staying 29 years before retiring.

"She was a good barber," Price said. "She had lots of customers."

Many stayed loyal to Crystal Barber Shop, which underwent a facelift around the year 2000. Price had purchased all four of the building's storefronts in 1998, and — wanting to preserve his business' history — invested in a year-and-a-half-long remodeling project.

"I could've probably saved money by just tearing it down and building me a (new) barber shop," Price said. "But we tore everything out except the ceilings — took out all the wiring and the plumbing, the walls, the floor — all the way to the ground."

"Everyone thought I was crazy then," he added, "because nothing was moving in, but I figured I'd have it rented in just a month or so. But we had such a stigma about the location, you know — people wouldn't come down here. But I've never been robbed, I've never had anybody jump on me or break my windows or none of that. I've made a good living, and I don't mistreat anybody down here and they don't mistreat me."

Still, business has slowed in recent years. Price said he often hears first-time customers tell him they've lived in Hendersonville their entire lives and never knew the shop was there because they view Seventh Avenue as nothing more than a short-cut thoroughfare.

With a revitalization effort under way for the neighborhood, however, that could change. Hickman said the daughter of the man who owned Chief's all those years was "overwhelmed" with emotion when she saw the energy and historically preserved look of her family's former storefront, and he hopes word will spread of the activity reminiscent of yesteryear that's slowly developing on Seventh Avenue.

"The way (Price) runs his business and the way he takes care of people hasn't changed in the 50 years that he's been there," Hickman said, "and that's the only reason why I'm sure he's still there is that there's enough people that appreciate that level of service and that experience."

Count Ron Harvey among them. Harvey, who is disabled and no longer drives, and his wife, Reda, moved to Columbus from Hendersonville 13 years ago, but Reda Harvey still takes her husband up to Crystal Barber Shop to get his hair cut.

"My husband has always come in here, and that's the only place he likes to come," she said Wednesday while Ron got his haircut. "You get somebody you like, you stick with him. (Ron) considers Red a friend and they talk about all sorts of things, and he just enjoys the camaraderie and the friendship, and a quality haircut."

Reda Harvey added that she's encouraged by the signs of life on Seventh Avenue with businesses such as Underground and Four Seasons Country Market.

"It's coming back," she said. "I like what I'm seeing here."

Through the highs and lows, from a downtown to ghost town to revitalization, the barber pole at Crystal Barber Shop continues to spin. And Price, who is currently shopping the business, doesn't plan to go anywhere just yet.

"If I can sell it, then I'd retire," he said. "But I'm going to stick it out a little longer. I don't want to see it close — it's been a good business for 90 years. I'd like a young barber in here and hope that he'd keep it open at least 10 years. I'd like to see it make it to 100."

<p>At the timeless Crystal Barber Shop, customers can see clear into Hendersonville's rich history.</p><p>Red Price has owned the 91-year-old business, on Seventh Avenue between Sixth Avenue and Locust Street, for a half-century, and he loves to share tales of what's gone on inside the shop and outside its windows through the years. </p><p>As memories begin to fade or disappear with each passing decade, Price is a treasured resource and an invaluable link between Seventh Avenue's past and its future.</p><p>"Red is full of stories," said Jo Ann Fain, historian for the Seventh Avenue Historic District. "I'm just glad he knows all these stories — and can remember them."</p><p>Fain's uncle, Charlie Lowrance, and his business partner, Jim Pace, opened Crystal Barber Shop in August 1922, according to Price's recollections of his conversations with Lowrance, who died in the 1990s. In the 91 years since, as Hendersonville has grown, modernized and seen its hub shift from Seventh Avenue to Main Street, the barber shop has stood the test of time and retained its roots — same name, same location, same service.</p><p>Price purchased half of the business in 1964, and has been its sole owner now for many years. When he started, Seventh Avenue remained the place to be.</p><p>"You'd see cars drive around the block trying to find a parking space," Price recalled. "It was still busy then. We had a drug store here and one down on the corner, so we had two drug stores, we had two shoe stores, we had two grocery stores."</p><p>Price, born and raised in Hendersonville, easily rattles off vivid descriptions of a bustling Seventh Avenue, with the busy train depot — and, to some degree, the barber shop — at the center of it all.</p><p>"Charlie said he could look out the front window there and he could see seven big boarding houses," Price said, adding that they charged $6 per week for room and board back then. "People would come down and meet the train and carry your bags to get you to come to their boarding house."</p><p>According to Price, families from Charleston, S.C., would send loved ones up here by train to escape disease-spreading mosquitoes in the summer. With radio broadcasts brand new in the 1920s, Price said, often those Lowcountry visitors were the only source of news for local residents — highly valued even if the news was six months old.</p><p>Consequently, if such a visitor needed a haircut, well, Crystal Barber Shop was where people congregated.</p><p>In later years it was a place frequented by Carl Sandburg, who enjoyed not just a haircut from Lowrance but also a bottle of Coke and a game of checkers next door at Chief's Friendly Market, according to a conversation Matthew Hickman, co-owner of Underground Baking Co. where Chief's once operated, said he had recently with Chief's daughter during a visit to his bakery.</p><p>Crystal Barber Shop also had checkerboards — painted on a long table in the back — Price recalled, and hot shots at the game would sit and play for hours. However, they might have had to play elsewhere had Pace and Lowrance accepted an offer to relocate the business in their early years.</p><p>"When the (Skyland) hotel was built, they wanted a barber shop in it, so they offered Jim and Charlie a year's free rent if they moved their shop up there," Price said. "But at that time they said, 'I don't think we could make a living on Main Street,' because everything was down here, you know? Of course then over the years, everything changed."</p><p>One by one, businesses began disappearing once a highway and mall went up on Four Seasons Boulevard.</p><p>"They just figured Seventh Avenue was going to die, so they moved out," Price said. "But it's been good to me. I've been here 48 years and I've made a good living on Seventh Avenue."</p><p>Price himself had a chance to move into a new location, where the Department of Motor Vehicles now stands on Four Seasons, but the rent was too expensive. And besides, Price was at home on Seventh Avenue.</p><p>In 1979, Price's wife, Joan, who attended barber school just like her husband did, went to work in the shop and wound up staying 29 years before retiring.</p><p>"She was a good barber," Price said. "She had lots of customers."</p><p>Many stayed loyal to Crystal Barber Shop, which underwent a facelift around the year 2000. Price had purchased all four of the building's storefronts in 1998, and — wanting to preserve his business' history — invested in a year-and-a-half-long remodeling project.</p><p>"I could've probably saved money by just tearing it down and building me a (new) barber shop," Price said. "But we tore everything out except the ceilings — took out all the wiring and the plumbing, the walls, the floor — all the way to the ground."</p><p>"Everyone thought I was crazy then," he added, "because nothing was moving in, but I figured I'd have it rented in just a month or so. But we had such a stigma about the location, you know — people wouldn't come down here. But I've never been robbed, I've never had anybody jump on me or break my windows or none of that. I've made a good living, and I don't mistreat anybody down here and they don't mistreat me."</p><p>Still, business has slowed in recent years. Price said he often hears first-time customers tell him they've lived in Hendersonville their entire lives and never knew the shop was there because they view Seventh Avenue as nothing more than a short-cut thoroughfare. </p><p>With a revitalization effort under way for the neighborhood, however, that could change. Hickman said the daughter of the man who owned Chief's all those years was "overwhelmed" with emotion when she saw the energy and historically preserved look of her family's former storefront, and he hopes word will spread of the activity reminiscent of yesteryear that's slowly developing on Seventh Avenue.</p><p>"The way (Price) runs his business and the way he takes care of people hasn't changed in the 50 years that he's been there," Hickman said, "and that's the only reason why I'm sure he's still there is that there's enough people that appreciate that level of service and that experience."</p><p>Count Ron Harvey among them. Harvey, who is disabled and no longer drives, and his wife, Reda, moved to Columbus from Hendersonville 13 years ago, but Reda Harvey still takes her husband up to Crystal Barber Shop to get his hair cut.</p><p>"My husband has always come in here, and that's the only place he likes to come," she said Wednesday while Ron got his haircut. "You get somebody you like, you stick with him. (Ron) considers Red a friend and they talk about all sorts of things, and he just enjoys the camaraderie and the friendship, and a quality haircut."</p><p>Reda Harvey added that she's encouraged by the signs of life on Seventh Avenue with businesses such as Underground and Four Seasons Country Market.</p><p>"It's coming back," she said. "I like what I'm seeing here."</p><p>Through the highs and lows, from a downtown to ghost town to revitalization, the barber pole at Crystal Barber Shop continues to spin. And Price, who is currently shopping the business, doesn't plan to go anywhere just yet.</p><p>"If I can sell it, then I'd retire," he said. "But I'm going to stick it out a little longer. I don't want to see it close — it's been a good business for 90 years. I'd like a young barber in here and hope that he'd keep it open at least 10 years. I'd like to see it make it to 100."</p>